Nearly 75 million Americans barbecued in 2007, buying 900,000 tons of charcoal briquettes. The average American grill owner spends about four and one-half hours grilling per week during the summer. Memorial Day, Labor Day, and Independence Day are American holidays on which outdoor grilling has almost become a tradition. Despite the popularity of outdoor grilling, almost 20% of Americans prefer to grill indoors.
Cooking grills for both outdoor and indoor use are well known and commercially available. Some portable, smokeless, indoor/outdoor cooking grills utilize external sources of heat. Many existing portable grills utilizing external sources of heat present the disadvantage of having multiple components. None of these existing grill systems are completely satisfactory solutions to the problem of portable indoor/outdoor grilling.
There is a need for a system that overcomes limitations of current grilling systems, as well as providing additional benefits.